To distract herself from thoughts of Hannah’s creamy freckled skin, she checked her email. There was another email from Mrs. Fisher, and the subject line was ‘Urgent.’ Her stomach dropped. Now that she knew it was there, she might as well open it. She gritted her teeth and clicked open.
“Dear Katie,” It began, and Kate rolled her eyes. Mrs. Fisher was the only non-family member she allowed to call her Katie. That was only because Mrs. Fisher had given her a twenty-five percent discount on the rent because she thought Kate looked like a childhood friend.
“I hope you are well! Ever since Mr. Fisher died, I’ve been looking at selling the building and moving down to Florida.”
Kate decided to get up and have a beer while she finished reading this email, which was probably going to tell her to get ready to be homeless and move her business. Well, it had been fun while it lasted. Her chest tightened. She put down the phone and went into the kitchen. She pulled a bottle of IPA out of the refrigerator and twisted off the top. After a long drink standing at the kitchen counter, Kate walked back to her bedroom and the misery that awaited on her phone.
Kate dropped back down onto her bed and continued reading.
“I’ve got a very nice offer for the building, but before I agree to sell, I want to make you an offer. I will sell the building to you if you can give me ninety percent of what the Langley Property Company is offering. If you can come up with twenty-five percent down by December thirty-first, I’m willing to set up a payment plan where you’ll pay me directly instead of a bank.”
Kate’s heart was beating so fast, her smartwatch beeped to ask if she was working out. Mrs. Fisher was making her an incredible offer. This was once-in-a-lifetime type stuff. When she’d gotten laid off from her former job working as a project analyst, she’d gotten a severance package. Most of it she’d used to open Pupcakes and Clawssaints, but she’d saved the little bit that was left. Was there any chance that could be enough of a down payment to buy the building?
The wheels started turning in her head. If she owned the building, she’d have the money she currently paid for rent on the store and her apartment. If she could rent out the emptystorefront next to her, that would be additional money for the monthly payment. Before she got ahead of herself, she needed to know how much Mrs. Fisher was asking. She took a long drink of her beer, and then she opened the attachment Mrs. Fisher had sent. For a lady in her late seventies, Mrs. Fisher was surprisingly good at emailing attachments.
Her heart beat even faster. She would need to come up with double what she had in her savings account. Was there any possibility of her coming up with twenty thousand dollars by the end of December? It would have to be a hell of a holiday season, and then some. Excitement took hold of her. She quickly replied to Mrs. Fisher, letting her know she was interested in buying the building. Now, all she needed to do was figure out how to make that happen. Maybe she should pay a visit to New Age Stones and Witch Crafts and see what the future held. A notification popped up on her screen. @MaximTheeMag had liked a post she’d made. Kate tapped on the notification and her Instagram opened. Hannah had liked a picture that showed Kate laughing as she held a puppy dressed as a pirate.
So, Hannah was checking out her social media. Kate’s chest warmed. She had a tiny buzz from the possibility of owning her own place and not having to worry about moving herself or her business and from the beer she’d practically downed all at once. Before she could talk herself out of it, she grabbed the business card and texted the number on the card.
Kate
Hey, this is Kate. Are you up?
She hit send and held her breath. Kate went back to Instagram and clicked on Hannah’s profile. Much to her dismay, all the posts were showing various tarot card spreads and one picture taken from behind that showed only the back of Hannah’s head. This was a no-face account. Where were the pictures of Hannahout with friends, or showing off an outfit of the day, or even a pouty selfie? Apparently, Hannah/Maxim was a woman of mystery. That only made Kate want her more.
She switched over to her own business Instagram account and scrolled, looking for more pictures from the pet psychic night. Her regular customers were always great about posting pictures with their pets and tagging her in them, whether they were wearing a collar they’d gotten from her store or a bag of cat treats. She was coming up empty until she glimpsed a picture of Hannah giving a reading to one of Kate’s most consistent customers, Cathy, and her Scottish terrier, Munchie. Pinching the picture with her fingers, Kate saw the way Hannah had a little line between her furrowed brows—amazing, perfect brows that probably never needed tweezing.
Just as she was losing hope, a text popped up.
Hannah
Yep.
Well, shoot, what was she supposed to say to that? Kate typed, “is the offer still on the table?” then she backspaced, realizing that sounded like they were at a business meeting.
Kate
Wanna come over? Have a drink?
Kate watched as the three dots pulsed on her phone. Then they stopped. She frowned. Had she screwed up? It was only eight-thirty, so it wasn’t too late to text. And Kate hadn’t typed come over so I can ravage you with my tongue, even though that would be the best possible outcome for the evening.Damn, I hope I didn’t scare her off.
Hannah
Depends, where do you live?
Kate
Oh, geez, I never mentioned it? I live above my shop.
Hannah
You live super close (winky face emoji).
Kate kicked her feet on the bed in excitement.
Kate
(blushing face emoji)
